The Dream
by The Stupendous Jimbo
Summary: While suffering from a horrific dream, Ike is forced to endure his fear of losing the most precious thing in his life: His friends and everyone he knows.


Author: This was based off of a dream I had a couple of nights ago that sort of freaked me out…Yeah, so this is going to be extremely corny, but in my defense I'm on medication (lousy doctors…) so that means I have an excuse to do ANYTHING! HA!

**The Dream**

I gazed upon the light green landscape littered with grooves the size of manholes, all formed in multiple ridges that appeared to wave the further I stared. There was nothing but dust, small specs of grass, and an endless mass of dirt. Around me were my friends whom I've come to known for quite a while thanks to the endless times we've all spent together. I remembered when I first joined the tournament everybody was skeptical of me because I had a great bulk upon me, a giant sword that nearly reached my length, and a stare that showed no mercy, but I was quick to show them I was truly kind. Despite my bulk, I was given the opportunity to show that loyalty was one of my biggest traits. I continued to stare at Marth, Roy, Samus, and Link as they blindly ventured further into the endless field of drops and watched Zelda and Peach speak to each other in such a soft manner I couldn't hear a word they said.

I continued to doze off into my own thoughts of how everybody would stare coldly at me out of fear or trepidation, but I would attempt a smile and wave. Upon seeing me smile, I noticed they would either raise their eyebrows, or become extremely taken back as if I had personally rocked the foundation of their minds. I would shrug it off and continue to wander around the mansion, which was crafted for the other fighters to relax in. I came to realize everybody would be afraid of me for quite some time, but I also wielded the optimum possibility of them warming up. That was my thoughts until I met Samus Aran. She neither glared nor stared at me. Whenever we passed each other, she merely flung her wrist in the air and waved, whether she wore her suit or not.

For the first time at the mansion, I became comfortable seeing somebody who came off as introverted as I, but I was honestly an extravert, and wished to prove it. I spent the next few weeks persisting in getting to know the bounty hunter until she finally glared at me and asked me, "why do you keep talking to me, do you like me or something?"

I shook my head and told her I only wanted to make friends. She sneered and told me to go make friends with someone who actually talks, like Link…It took me two whole weeks to realize it was a joke…I found out the hard way…

I shook my head and realized I had dozed off when everybody was gone. I continued to venture down the ridges until I came upon a giant steep which led to an old, decrepit mansion. It looked nothing like the mansion which we lived in; the exterior was completely rotted and surrounded by a cascade of vines. The wood was rotted to the point where it could barely sustain itself, and half the windows were shattered. It looked as if it was about to topple over from which it stood. As I scanned the area, I noticed everybody crowding around the mansion, wandering around aimlessly once again. I made my way down the steep and found myself staring up at what looked to be a giant, wooden post standing between eight to ten feet. Unlike the mansion, the post looked as if it was recently built. I jumped up and climbed to the top and looked down at what looked to be a great drop.

I was never too scared of heights, but the drop looked a lot further than the side which I jumped up on. I noticed Ganondorf holding his arms out to me. "I'll help ya," he said. I shook my head and decided to jump. The drop wasn't as deep as I though it was. I looked around and see all of my friends continuing to explore the area which they recently discovered. Out of curiosity I decided to have a look inside the old mansion. As I opened the door, I was mesmerized to see the interior was nothing compared to the outside. It was decorated with jade curtains cascading the windows, the ceiling wielded a remarkable pattern of curved beams, all ending in a giant pearl chandelier which radiated a sublime assortment of hues from every direction. The area was indeed fit for a king. The floors were pure marble and echoed a click with every step taken.

The room itself illuminated a bright, white color as I found my head spinning in circles at the glorious structure I found myself in. I looked up to see Marth and Roy chasing each other around the stairway which curved through both ends, finally joined by a balcony from the second floor. Before I could venture further, there was a sudden tremor. Everybody in my field of vision stopped for a second to listen before the floor began to rumble. I quickly turned to dash through the front doors and looked up to see everybody continuously running around aimlessly. Suddenly the ground below me began to split, like a hammer clashing down upon a rock. I jumped to the nearest platform, which turned out to be a smooth, cemented slab. The ground continued to decimate itself through the ferocious trembling which reached the outside. The shaking became unbearable as I jumped to sprint to the post, which appeared immobile.

Upon grabbing the post, I turned my head to notice everything was leaning in towards me. I struggled to pull myself up on top of the post and watched the entire structure, which contained my best friends, to finally fall. I quickly jumped out of the way and heard a loud clap. After stumbling on the ground, I slowly gripped the dirt and pushed myself up on my knees. I turned around. To my horror the whole entire mansion was collapsed. The post had disappeared, and in front of me was nothing but a pile of rubble. I quickly ran to the piles of scraps and furiously dug through the wood, throwing away splinters and other chunks of debris. After poking through various chords and plaster I finally noticed a head containing spiked, red hair. I quickened my pace and managed to dig out a completely drenched Roy. With a gasp, I jumped back to see his head was the only thing I managed to salvage. My muscles instantly collapsed as I felt myself flopping on my back. I turned to crawl away on a piece of cemented slab, refusing to see more. I felt the ground below me drift away from the scrap pile as I slowly rocked back and forth.

With an expression of skepticism, I dug through more piles of wood and noticed a puddle. Upon removing more wood the puddle turned into a pond. I looked around and saw more drenched corpses gently drifting passed me. The sudden realization hit me that the whole entire structure was somehow built with the pond being the foundation. I soon found myself alone drifting on a slab as more of my fallen friends gently made their way past me with a variety of fear, anxiety, and sadness etched on their faces. The grey water swiftly turned crimson red as more bloodstained bodies continued to show up. The macabre scenery drew chills down my back as I continued to stare into the bloodbath. Marth, Link, Roy, Ganondorf, Mario, Luigi, Peach, everybody was floating around me. Some of them faced up, others faced down. I gazed around as the faint fragrance of decomposed limbs, bile feces, and crushed boned lingered into the air as I found myself drifting about a river of blood.

Tears welled up into my face as I swiftly clasped my face. My hands were trembling, my jaw went slack; I reached the combined expression of terrified and shocked. In a fit of rage, I slammed my hands on the slab, tilted my head to the heavens, and screamed as loud as I could.

* * *

My head shot up in cold sweat as I felt my breath quicken and my heart beat out of control. The adrenaline had overwhelmed my sense of control as I continued to flail my arms in the air. Marth and Link quickly grabbed a hold of me and pinned me again my bed, screaming "calm down!" and "what's your problem?" I continued to struggle to break free, but their grip was too much.

Suddenly Roy ran into the room and jumped on top of me, shaking me as hard as he could. Upon realizing I was no longer alone drifting among a sea of bodies, I finally stopped screaming and slowly collected my character. My three friends tilted their heads as they gaped at me. "Are…" Roy gulped, "Are you okay?"

I didn't know. My head was throbbing in pain, my heart was still racing, and my breathing had just begun to steady. My friends finally released their clasp and stood up to give me room. I slowly rolled over and stood out of bed, feeling nauseated from the horrors I had recently faced. "I…I'm fine…"

"Do you need a glass of water?" Link dug into his tunic and pulled out a small bottle of milk. "Well It's not water, but…"

"Thanks," I reached for the bottle and gulped it down. The icy milk cooled off my throat, which was parched from all the screaming. I lifted my arm to wipe away the milk stain on my lips as I gave the bottle back to the Hylian. He looked at the empty bottle and chuckled. "Jeez, thirsty much?"

"I had a bad dream…" I muttered in a low voice. It was always a habit of mine to speak softly when I was overwhelmed with anxiety, but at the moment I was more relieved than anything to see them alive.

Marth shook his head. "I believe that's an understatement…"

I nodded. The three looked at me. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really…"

They nodded. I felt Link's hand pat my shoulders. "Well hang in there, buddy…"

I nodded as I walked out of the room to roam. Whilst thinking of the dream, I found myself wondering aimlessly throughout the mansion until I came upon a familiar hallway which I took the liberty of remembering. I remembered it so well because that's when I met the first person who didn't think of me as a cold hearted human being. As if on cue, I saw Samus slowly making her way down the hallway in the same fashion as always. This time she wasn't in her suit. Before I could flinch, she raised her hand once again and waved as she continued to walk in her normal manner.

"Hey wait," I called. She stopped and turned. "What," she muttered in an irritate tone.

I started asking myself why in the world I stopped her. I had no idea what I wanted to tell her, but I knew she was the only person I could ever relate myself with. I've never had much of a conversation with her, but I knew she was listening because I'd go on for hours straight talking to her about my world and everything while she would listen with the same dull expression on her face. I had no intentions of trying to impress her or anything, but she was the only one who would sit down and listen to my tale of how I slew the Black Knight and avenged my father's death. The only thing I could think of at the moment was of the dream I had.

"I had a bad dream," I blurted out. She raised a perplexed eyebrow as I felt myself blush.

"And you're telling me this…Whyyy?"

"I…I don't know…" I felt embarrassed to have stopped her in the first place, much less admit I had a bad dream. "I'll just erm…Uhh…Leave you alone, now…"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Ike," she spoke with a cold glare, "how come every time we meet, you feel the need to tell me your life story?"

"I don't really know, it's just-

If you're trying to tell me you like me, then just ask me out so I can say no, then we can move on with our lives!"

I couldn't help but flinch with her sudden outburst. I wasn't really aggravated, much less confused. "What do you mean?"

"I may not interact with people, but I've observed them enough to understand you don't open yourself up to anybody but me. Obviously you like me."

"Not really…You're just the only person who hasn't judged me because I'm relatively quiet…"

I felt my voice gently trail off for unknown reasons. I wasn't intimidated by her, I beat her in the tournament after all, so I knew I could take her, and I also didn't even want to know where she managed to fathom the idea of me liking her, but it's nice to know I should be wary of asking her out anytime soon.

"Really…I see you hanging around with those deranged swordsmen…Half of them keep asking me out…And you're telling me you haven't even told them anything about you?" She patted her foot on the marble floor as she patiently waited for an answer.

"Not much, only that my world is similar and we have similar interests, but I never spoke of my past…"

Her expression shifted from stern to curiosity. "Why?" She asked.

"I don't know…When I see you, I see somebody who's willing to listen to people so they'll shut up…And I guess I wanted to shut up…"

"Believe me, you don't…"

We paused for a second and soon found ourselves chuckling lightly. She sighed. "Alright fine, tell me about your stupid dream…"

"Thanks," I said with a smile. I began to tell her everything, from the deep grooves of the landscape, to the giant wooden post in front of the mansion, to the dazzling mansion itself. I noticed her eyes light up when I mentioned the beauty contained within the interior, but her face remained motionless. When I told her about trembling, and the mansion collapsing, I saw the shine in her eyes disappear. I then went into details of the decrepit scene of everybody drifting among the swamp and noticed a small chill run down her body. When I was finished, her face remained the same, but her eyes gave off a look of sorrow.

"Wow…" She said, "Sounds messed up…"

"This may come off as a surprise, but it wasn't the scenery that scared me the most…"

"Oh?"

I took a deep breath. I prepared to tell her an important aspect of my life which even she never knew about. "You see…Even though I don't mingle as much as the others, I've developed a sort of love for everyone…And you've all become my best friends ever…And my biggest fear in the world is losing my friends…Without them…"

I felt tears slowly trickle down my cheeks as the memories of my dream flashed through my mind. "I don't know what I'd do…"

She looked at me in astonishment. For the first time ever I saw Samus give off a saddened expression. She walked up to me and wiped the tears off of my cheeks. "You know, you never struck me as the type who cries…" She said as she patted me on the shoulders. "I think we're getting somewhere…"

She turned to walk away. As she walked, she turned her head. "You know, perhaps asking me out wouldn't be such a bad idea after all…" With a wink, she continued to walk until she was no longer in sight. I felt the tears evanesce as a smile slowly crept on my face. I never really pondered the idea much, but it didn't sound bad at all. "You know," I muttered to myself, "perhaps it wouldn't…"

Author: Man, this story was intended to be short…Ah well, I've never really wrote something for friendship, but this was the only thing I could categorize it as. I still hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!


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